Michael Ball (born Michael Ashley Ball, on 27 June 1962 in Bromsgrove, England) is a British actor and singer, best known for musical theatre roles such as Marius in Les Misérables, Alex in Aspects of Love, and Caractacus Potts in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
Although born in England, Michael Ball is half Welsh, and says jokingly that he considers himself "Wenglish" and proud to be British [1]. He studied Drama at the Guildford School of Acting and graduated in 1984. His first major break was a star part in the production of The Pirates of Penzance at the Opera House, Manchester. Next came a brief stint in Rep. Cameron Mackintosh saw him and cast him as Marius in Les Misérables. Next came Raoul in the second casting of Phantom of the Opera, and Alex in Aspects of Love, both in London and on Broadway, and Giorgio in Stephen Sondheim's London production of Passion. Alone Together was Michael's one man show first performed at The Donmar Warehouse (which was reprised in 2004 for the Singular Sensations season at the Haymarket). In 2002 Michael took on the role of Caractacus Potts in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang which was largely considered his comeback role. In 2005, at 10 days' notice, he replaced Michael Crawford, who had to leave the show due to ill health, as Count Fosco in The Woman in White, and gave a popular and critically-acclaimed performance.
Other performances include singing at the BBC's St David's Day concert, at the Les Misérables Tenth Anniversary Concert in 1995, and the fiftieth birthday party of Andrew Lloyd Webber in 1998. He is a dramatic baritone known for his range, expression and power.
Michael is an accomplished concert artist and tours frequently around the UK. He has also performed concerts in Australia and America. Since reaching the top of the British charts with "Love Changes Everything" (from Aspects of Love) Michael had small successes with follow up singles but in the main he has concentrated on releasing albums, all of which achieved Gold status within weeks, and in the case of The Movies album in 1998, Platinium in 7 weeks{was released Oct 26th confirmed Platinium status in interview on 12 Dec}. Michael represented the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest 1992, singing the song "One Step Out of Time", which finished second.
Michael has also turned his hand to presenting both on TV and radio and has presented The National lottery, Children in Need and This Morning, and had his own series on TV and radio (Ball over Broadway on BBC Radio 2) (which is in its fourth season), The Greenroom, and several specials for BBC Radio 2 on subjects such as Nat King Cole, Cameron Mackintosh, and Cy Coleman.
In September 2005, Michael made his NYC Opera debut as Reginald Bunthorne in Gilbert and Sullivan's Patience with the New York City Opera.
In October 2005 Michael released his latest album "Music". The album went into the UK charts at number 11, and spent 10 weeks in the top 75. The album finished the year the 99th best selling album of 2005.
In November, 2005, Michael returned to Broadway as Count Fosco in The Woman in White, which transferred from London's West End. However, he was forced to leave the show due to a reported viral infection caused by the fat suit required for the role, which reportedly raised Ball's body temperature by several degrees during the show. The suit is also thought to have been the cause of Michael Crawford's premature departure from the show in London. The show closed early, in part due to the health problems of Ball and leading lady Maria Friedman.
Michael spent the first quarter of 2006 on complete vocal rest, following the illness that caused him the leave Woman In White on Broadway. By the middle of July, Michael had taken part in the Royals Court's celebratory performance of The Rocky Horror Show, recorded a new album (called "One Voice", due for release on 30 October 2006) and made a guest appearance on Julian Lloyd Webber's album "Unexpected song". Then came the summer concerts at Aberdeen, Bath, Southport, Oakley Hall and Cardiff. In August, Michael sat in for Michael Parkinson on his Radio 2 show. He was interviewed for Radio 3's "Stage and Screen" programme, and recorded a tribute to Anthony Newley at Hackney Empire, also for Radio 2. Michael then took part in 'Proms in the Park' in Singleton Park, Swansea. He sang two tracks from his forthcoming album, 'One Voice'; the title song and 'Hero'. Michael also sung show stoppers, 'This is the Moment', 'Anthem' and 'Love Changes Everything'. In November, Michael will be releasing a new DVD containing all the best songs from his 'Live in Concert' DVDs. They will be split into five sections: Musicals, Love Songs, Personal Favourites, Party Time and Unplugged. The DVD will also include a brand new "Unplugged" session which Michael has recorded with just 4 other musicians in the studio especially for this DVD. It will be released on November 20 2006. Six days later he will join Petula Clark in concert at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London. (In 2004, he co-starred with her in a production of Lloyd Webber's Sunset Boulevard at the Cork Opera House in the Republic of Ireland, which was later broadcast by the BBC. Michael has lots of promotional activities coming up at the end of the year with the release of his new album 'One Voice'.
It has been announced that Ball will be taking the lead role in Kismet in June/July 2007 for the ENOdetails can be found on the English National Opera website.There will also be a tour but exact dates are not known yet{Michael confirmed this during his Stage and screen interview}.
He is currently sitting in for Johnnie Walker on his Sunday afternoon BBC Radio 2 show.
Cry Me A River
Michael Ball Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You cried the long night through
Well, you can cry me a river
Cry me a river
I cried a river over you
Now you say you're sorry
For being so untrue
Cry me a river
I cried a river over you
You drove me,.
Nearly drove me out of my head
While you never shed a tear
Remember?
I remember all that you said
Told me love was to plebeian
Told me you were through with me and...
Now you say you love me
Well, just to prove you do
Cry me a river
Cry me a river
I cried a river over you
You drove me
Nearly drove me out of my head
While you never shed a tear
Remember?
I remember all that you said
Told me love was to plebeian
Told me you were through with me and...
Now you say you love me
Well, just to prove that you do...
Come on and cry me a river...
Cry me a river...
I cried a river over you
I cried a river over you...
The lyrics of the song "Cry Me A River" by Michael Ball speak of a love that has now ended, with the singer of the song addressing his past lover who has become lonely after their breakup. The lyrics suggest a certain level of resentment from the singer towards his ex. He tells her that she can now "cry me a river" as he had already cried many over her when they had broken up. As the song progresses, the singer tells his ex that he remembers all the things she had said, including how love was beneath her and how she was done with him. However, she now claims that she loves him which he does not believe, telling her to "cry me a river" as proof.
Line by Line Meaning
Now you say you're lonely
You claim to be bereft of company
You cried the long night through
You shed tears all night long
Well, you can cry me a river
Your tears do not evoke my sympathy
Cry me a river
Continue to waste your tears
I cried a river over you
I cried profusely due to your actions
Now you say you're sorry
You express regret for your actions
For being so untrue
For being dishonest
You drove me,.
Your actions caused me great distress
Nearly drove me out of my head
Your actions almost made me insane
While you never shed a tear
You never showed any remorse
Remember?
Do you recall?
I remember all that you said
I have not forgotten what you said
Told me love was to plebeian
You claimed that love was beneath you
Told me you were through with me and...
You declared that our relationship was over
Now you say you love me
You now claim to love me
Well, just to prove you do
To confirm your love
Come on and cry me a river...
Continue crying in front of me
I cried a river over you
Your actions caused me immense pain that led to tears
Lyrics © Kanjian Music, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Arthur Hamilton
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@jademoon7938
Scott Storch did some of the lyrics, the bridge and the melody on Cry Me a River, the beat and rest of production was Timbaland. Storch is not credited as a producer, which is why he never made any Justin Timberlake songs after Cry Me a River, and him and Timbaland fell out over it.
That kind of made him lose his career. Well, that and a crippling cocaine addiction that saw him lose his fortune, which is really sad.
I respect Storch and his work, but I sort of feel like amending my comment on Timberlake to include Storch would be like giving credit to Storch for D.R.E. Day because he wrote the piano riff.
Don't get me wrong, the piano riff made the song, it is among the most recognizable components of Dre's songs, up there with the vocoder on California Love.
That said, it is like 2% of the work that went into the song, while his work on Cry Me a River was more like 25% of the song. So he definitely deserves credit with Timberlake.
But to put Storch up there as, "The one who made Timberlake's beats"... Idk. That title belongs to Timbaland imo.
@mariodushi98
Is anyone just randomly watching the old songs?
@MetoNextDoor
Need more of them
@joshthompson2086
All the time older music is best this CRAP they call music now days is just junk
@allforbts4038
Me
@annejvelasquez
God they need more good songs now days and this is coming from a 12 year old😂
@travelfoodielove
Mario Dushi yup at Disneyworld and annoying all my sisters with *NSYNC AND BRITNEY throwback music hahaha
@Olhado256
Guys, if a girl cheats on you, DO NOT break into her house and watch her shower.
@nicolasderu4368
That's #GoodAdvice, right there !
@forgotaboutbre
Can I at least dance on her furniture?
@helenatn7596
Or what.. That sounds like a challenge ;)
Can us girls do it tho?